The Spaghetti Tree

One Strange Thing: True Paranormal Mysteries

Laurah Norton

Paranormalpodcast, History, True Crime, Paranormal, Mystery

4.6 • 763 Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2026

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Spaghetti, like money, does not grow on trees. But it turns out that that may not have been common knowledge in ‘50s Britain… and the BBC, after putting together a whimsical April Fools’ segment, suddenly had some explaining to do. We begin our April Fools’ celebration with lots of tricks and fun. Be sure to follow all month! Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/STRANGE and use promo code STRANGE at checkout! Hosted by Laurah Norton Research by Bryan Worters and Maura Currie Written, Engineered & Produced by Maura Currie One Strange Thing: True Paranormal Mysteries explores the archives of the unexplained, blending rigorous historical research with a wry, skeptical wit to investigate true supernatural stories and baffling mysteries that made headlines. Dive into our Episode Mystery Archive — a curated, topic-organized source for documented hauntings, UFO sightings, cryptids, folklore, and bizarre true mysteries. Check it out here! https://www.onestrangethingpodcast.com/episodes-by-topic-mystery-archive This episode originally ran as premium episode 59. Sources on our website: https://www.onestrangethingpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon for early release and ad-free episodes, exclusive stories, and bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/OneStrangeThing Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onestrangethingpod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/One-Strange-Thing-114307627035607 Subscribe to our Substack: https://substack.com/@onestrangething We work with Amplitude Media Partners (AMP) to power our advertising and grow with the right sponsors. Contact AMP with any ad inquiries; sales@amplitudemediapartners.com. All Rights Reserved The Fall Line® Podcast LLC/One Strange Thing 2026 Works Cited BBC On This Day NA, “History of British Television,” Science and Media Museum, 2011. NA, “Spaghetti tree shown…” The Scotsman, 1957. NA, “TV hoax fools the…” Belfast Telegraph, 1957. James Thomas, “TV fools viewers…” Daily News, 1957. NA, “What a dish - with…” Daily Herald, 1957. NA, “TV TOPICS,” Shetland Times, 1957. Jack Stepler, “Spaghetti Tree,” Ottowa Citizen, 1957. NA, “Spaghetti and Cocktails: The pitiless…” The Scotsman, 1957. NA, “Spaghetti is harvested…” Runcorn Weekly News, 1957. Arthur Dunn, “Practical joking the…” Belfast Telegraph, 1962. Paul Wallace, “The day that trees…” Scarborough Evening News, 1988. NA, “Still a good joke…” BBC News, 2004. NA, “Archive: A look back at the 1957…” BBC, 2024. Encyclopedia Britannica

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Lauren Orton, and this is one strange thing.
0:07.0	The show will research the nation's news archives for stories that can't quite be explained.
0:13.0	Today we visit our friends across the pond in England, where in the 50s there was a lot going on.
0:30.6	A new queen, Elizabeth II, was coronated in 1953.
0:35.1	Europe was still recovering from World War II, and according to the National Science and
0:39.8	Media Museum, a new technology called television was exploding across the United Kingdom. Between
0:46.1	1949 and 1955, 95% of the UK gained access to public television broadcasts, in black and white, of course,
0:55.9	because color transmission wouldn't start for another 10 years or so.
1:00.0	The first channel that most Britons had access to was the BBC, which broadcasted on public
1:05.6	airways.
1:06.7	And according to the BBC itself, one of the first programs that made for appointment viewing
1:11.7	for the general public was a show called Panorama.
1:15.4	Panorama premiered on November 11, 1953, and very much still exists.
1:21.0	In fact, according to the BBC, it's the longest-running TV news magazine anywhere in the world. Two years after its premiere,
1:29.1	Panorama got a new presenter, which is basically a fancy name for a host. Richard Dimbleby
1:34.8	was as good a candidate for the job as anyone could be. Per the Encyclopedia Britannica,
1:40.3	he was the BBC's first war correspondent on the radio and pivoted into television post-war.
1:46.2	He wasn't just a good journalist, but also, quote,
1:49.3	an imposing visual presence and trusted national figure.
1:53.3	What Walter Cronkite was to us Americans, Richard Dimbleby was to the British.
1:58.7	As Panorama's presenter, Dimblebee introduced investigative pieces
2:03.0	filmed all over the UK and the world. Often he would lend his voice to narrated pieces of reporting,
	...

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